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Transcendentalism In Into The Wild, By John Krakauer

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Transcendentalism is to find your inner self and deepest intuitions in nature. Out of John Krakauer the author of Into the Wild and Christopher McCandless, who has more transcendentalist ideas? I believe Mcandless has far more transcendentalist ideas than Krakauer, due to Mcandless’s hate for society, his self-reliance, and his true connection with nature.

First of all, McCandless has a hatred towards society and as a result stays away from it as much as he can, while on the other hand, Krakauer fully supports and relies on society. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance, he mentions, “Society everywhere is in a conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company in which the members agree, for …show more content…

In Emerson’s Self Reliance, he mentions “every heart vibrates to that iron string” (Source C). The meaning of this quote is for everyone to rely on their own decisions, you should be completely self-reliant and should not let any third party influence you. From the start of McCandless's adventure he makes his own decisions, never letting anyone tell him what to do, even when it was helpful. When people offered him supplies he would either respectfully decline the offer, or leave it behind. Rarely ever accepting it. On the other hand, Krakauer had to rely on other people. Krakauer wrote, “I had paid a bush pilot in Petersburg $150- the last of my cash- to have six cardboard cartons of supplies dropped from an airplane when I reached the foot of the Thumb” (source A 140). While Mcandles rarely accepts help Krakauer hires a pilot to have “supplies” dropped off for him. Krakauer is not self-reliant like McCandless. McCandless accepts help when people bother him enough. When McCandless was in Alaska he was fully self-reliant, hunting and gathering supplies. Krakauer needs to rely on others to bring him his supplies. Mcandless doesn’t have to rely on others like Krakauer did, in fact, one of Mcandless's biggest concerns was not being fully

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Krakauer also put some of McCandless’ journals and letters in the book. According to Shaun Callarmans analysis Chris McCandless had no business going to Alaska. Callarman thinks Chris McCandless is just plain crazy. Callarman doesn't admire his courage or noble ideas. Even though Shaun Callarman thinks Chris McCandless was bright and ignorant, also made mistakes because of his arrogance, I disagree with Callarmans analysis

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McCandless had some controversial ideals and flaws, but the lessons and inspiration he left behind cannot be denied. His unwavering commitment to his ideals is a testament to his inspiring mindset. The unique life he led serves as an inspiration to many but also as a reminder of the importance of considering the impact of one’s actions on others. Everyone can learn a great deal from McCandless’ life and should strive to live with a similar goal: To pursue a life with the freedom to be one’s true self. Works Cited Krakauer, Jon.

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Ultimately, McCandless’s refusal of any help allowed even the smallest accomplishment to be a big deal. McCandless found happiness in doing everything alone, which helped him live a good life, full of value and

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Where there wasn’t anyone to tell him, no, don’t follow that route. We don’t want you to hinder all that we have indure, your parents want more for you.. He grew weary of his surroundings, he tried too hard to make sense of the everyday world. Tired of the representation of a good samaritan, McCandless could care less what everyone else did, prior to that very moment. He wanted to choose the path that he wanted, just like his heroes Jack London and David Thoreau.

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Others believe McCandless to be arrogant, selfish, disrespectful, silly, and ignorant. Author Jon Krakauer states, “Nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s

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This led to his death in the Alaskan wild. Many people offered to give him things, such as Ronald Franz who wanted to adopt McCandless, but not once did McCandless say “I need your help”(Krakauer 198) until a few days before his death but no one was there. It was at this point that he realized he needed someone there because his life depended on it. He knew the impact he had on his parents and those that drove him along his journey. If McCandless realized this prior to putting himself in danger, he would have lived a longer life devoted to others more than himself.

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That being said, Krakauer does not really think that McCandless is just some crazy boy trying to gain attention because of a mental disability or something. McCandless was perfectly sane, although he doesn’t seem like

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McCandless believed that his mind was better than a map and that he could trust his instinct. Chris’s confidence told him that his opinion was better than any opinion out there, and that he could live his life without others useless ideas. McCandless was very confident in his idea, like he should be with the grades that he got in college. Emerson writes, “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of our own mind” (Emerson 4). Opinions are very important because that’s what makes a human different.

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McCandless’ self reliance is the cornerstone of his philosophy and contributes to his ultimate demise when he walked into the wild with nothing but his wits and basic supplies. His main influence for this ideal came from Emerson’s aptly named essay Self-Reliance where he writes, “But a cultivated man becomes ashamed of his property, out of new respect for his nature. Especially he hates what he has, if he see that it is accidental, — came to him by inheritance, or gift, or crime; then he feels that it is not having; it does not belong to him, has no root in him, and merely lies there, because no revolution or no robber takes it away”. When Mccandless is offered charity in the form of food and clothes he refuses to take them, when he does he does so begrudgingly and in some cases leaves it behind. A similar example of his shame for property he didnt earn was the money he got to go to college.

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Transcendentalism is a philosophy that emphasizes a prior condition of knowledge and experience or the unknowable character of ultimate reality or that emphasizes the transcendent as the fundamental reality (Merriam Webster). Transcendentalism is an American literary, political, and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century that included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Amos Bronson Alcott, Fredric Henry Hedge, and Theodore Parker. They were critics of their society for its conformity, and urged that each person find “an original relation to the universe.” Chris McCandless, the focus of Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, was a transcendentalist. The author of Into The Wild, Jon Krakauer’s purpose is to spread Chris McCandless’s story while explaining transcendentalist ideas, such as nonconformity.

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Was Chris McCandless a true transcendentalist? Transcendentalism is a system developed by Immanuel Kant, based on the idea that, in order to understand the nature of reality, one must first examine and analyze the reasoning process that governs the nature of experience. Influenced by romanticism, Platonism, and Kantian philosophy, it taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity, and its members held progressive views on feminism and communal living. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were central figures. In Jon Krakauer’s novel, Into the Wild, McCandless is viewed as a transcendentalist.

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This goes on to show how arrogant and stubborn McCandless was to believe that he could survive with the bare minimum only because he convinced himself he could do it. Moreover, a writer named Nick Jans adds, “Same story: idealistic, energetic young guys who overestimated themselves, underestimated the country, and ended up in trouble. McCandless was hardly unique; there’s quite a few of these guys hanging around the state, so much alike that they’re almost a collective cliche. The only difference is that McCandless ended up dead, with the story of his dumbassedness splashed across the media.... (Jack London got it right in “To Build a Fire.”

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It is true that Krakauer mentions his own viewpoint of McCandless, but people can still have different opinions on him. For example, in chapter eight people have made up their opinions on McCandless base on reading the Outside article. They said he was “forsaken a loving family,” unprepared, not wise on going to Alaska, and was preparing to die (Krakauer 74). However, that point is not true because it was based on what they read from the article. By reading the article they only know the exterior of him and not know the reason why he went to Alaska.

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However, Jon Krakauer proves his argument that McCandless was not arrogant, foolish, antisocial, or crazy by giving examples of other young men who were similar to McCandless to show that his journey wasn’t unprecedented. He also proves that McCandless wasn’t antisocial because he developed personal relationships with Ronald Franz, Wayne Westerberg, and Jan Burres in such a short amount of time and explaining the many times that McCandless respected the Alaskan Bush. Krakauer admits that McCandless may have suffered from hubris; he was still a victim of circumstances. Krakauer proves that McCandless had an intrinsic motivation to discover and that he wasn’t alone because Krakauer too ventured into the Alaskan Bush when he was younger. The Alaskan Bush is a very difficult place to survive if one isn’t prepared for many challenges such as hunting for food or staying warm in the frost ridden

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Transcendentalism is a literary and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century. Among the chief proponents of American Transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson is widely regarded as the father of the movement. The Transcendentalism movement is acknowledged as having infused Eastern and Western philosophies altogether. American transcendentalism refers to a set of ideas by which we make our life better by lifting ourselves above the conflicts and apprehensiveness that weigh on our souls. This knowledge comes through intuition, imagination and common sense not through logic or reasoning.

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